


Swing, Swing

by nic_neptune



Category: Bob's Burgers (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Gen, Slice of Life, kind of, not a lot of plot but theres sweetness and awkwardness who doesnt love that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-07-08 01:00:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19860946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nic_neptune/pseuds/nic_neptune
Summary: In which Tina finds herself struggling with some internal demons and ventures forth to try and ease her mind. Her body is pulled to the swing set at her local playground, but she didn't expect to see anyone else loitering about the area-- especially not this late at night. Now, why would HE be here?





	Swing, Swing

As the fifteen year old girl breathed out, she watched her frothy breath ooze into the chilling night, kind of like smoke from a dragon’s lips. A harsh tremor shot through her spine from the cold air that seemed to smother her, despite her black boots, dark blue sweatpants, light blue shirt and black jacket. Her normal attire consisted of the same light blue shirt, but a dark blue skirt and converse sneakers. Unfortunately, the late evening was much too cold for such clothing, yet she still remained to have a basic theme of outfits.

She continued to walk further and further away from her home. It wasn't that she was unhappy there; her parents were very supportive and she had two siblings whom she felt that she could trust no matter what, but living with five other individuals, being the oldest sibling, struggling through puberty and confusion and changes, still expected to work all of the time and make good grades… sometimes it all just felt like too much. So, Tina Belcher decided to take a stroll down Ocean Avenue and venture away, if only for a few short hours. Everyone else at home was fast asleep, which was no real surprise, considering the late hour. The last time she had checked the clock, it looked to be 1:35 A.M. She didn't have a real idea of how long she’d been walking, so Tina couldn’t estimate what time it might be now.

Tina hugged her jacket as close to herself as possible, in hopes of savoring some extra warmth. She shuddered once more but kept walking, practically dragging one leg in front of the other. She couldn’t quite define the great coldness as pleasant, exactly, but it was better than being overheated, in her opinion. She enjoyed a slight chill, and though the air was much beyond that now, she didn’t necessarily detest it. It made her feel awake and sharp, ready to take on anything that life threw at her.

It also made her want to snuggle up under a warm blanket near a crackling fire with a cute boy cuddling up next to her shivering body, but she proposed that walking to a playground to be alone in the dark and cold would suffice, too.

She made her way through, trying to stay on the sidewalk as often as possible. A light dusting of white snow littered the ground here and there, and even in the darkness of the night it still appeared brilliant. Tina didn’t stop to stare at the patches, though, for she feared if she stayed still too long that those icy fingers of winter would clutch her so tightly she’d be frozen there.

Instead, she continued moving forward; a tactic she used often, in many different scenarios. Such as, when she’d find a nasty note in her locker detailing someone’s opinion on how nerdy they found her, or when she’d trip and fall during class trying to do a simple task like meandering to the teacher’s desk, and listen as the entirety of the class would burst into a cacophony of heinous laughter. In such instances, Tina has learned, the best method is to merely move forward. The way she saw it, things will always get better in the end, and if they are not better, then it is not the end. Easier said than followed, but she still viewed herself as a smart, strong, sensual woman, and she refused to allow her peers to get the best of her.

Sometimes, however, she just thought about punching some of her bullies- mostly Tammy and Jocelyn, if she were being honest- but at the end of the day knew that it wasn’t only wrong, but she would never actually go through with it. Maybe she was too nice, or maybe she just didn’t have the guts. Whatever the true reasoning behind her hesitation was, the thought still lingered. Just one good swing. That’s all she needed. It wouldn’t be so bad, would it? She sighed.

Tina wasn’t a bad girl by any means. Even when she was bad (which was rarely, and normally only around Tammy) she wasn’t necessarily mean. It was something that her mother always fawned over. “My Teeny Tina is the sweetest little baby!” She’d coo, even now. The teen enjoyed her mother’s kind accolades and eyes filling to the brim with pride and adoration, but it was still a nuisance to her, personally. Even if she would attempt to swear at ice after she had slipped on it, she instantly felt bad. The only person she thought she had ever really yelled at without apologizing instantaneously to was Jimmy Junior.

Her heart swelled as she even thought about the ginger boy. She approached the playground with thoughts of his butt and his fabulous dance moves playing through her mind- she just couldn’t help herself. Tina had been so lost in thought that she didn’t even realize the light sprinkling of snowflakes befalling the world. They were soft and gentle, but still cold to the touch on her bare skin. Tina shuddered, her legs trembling from the harshness of the shake. Still, she went on. The swings were so close now; all she had to do was cross a small jungle gym area, move past tire swings and monkey bars, and trek about two yards and she’d be there. She would dust off the seat and sit down, swinging softly, almost rocking back and forth, steadily.

Even if she felt cold tremors snaking up and down her spine and freezing tendrils wrapped around her arms, she couldn’t say that she wasn’t enjoying herself. Tina would have preferred if the weather were a bit kinder to her by inching up a few degrees, but she’d been in the cold plenty of times before; building snowmen with her siblings, having snowball fights, sledding (and defending their sledding hill). So this wintry chill wasn’t anything she hasn’t experienced before. Being out in it alone late at night, however, was something she wasn’t used to. Suddenly she began to shudder for a different reason, but she continued on. The dark atmosphere did make her anxiety spike, but she came out for a reason; the raven haired girl wanted some quiet time to think and reflect. Besides, she couldn’t deny that it was an absolutely beautiful night. The moon hung high overhead and cast an illuminating spotlight on her, the stars twinkled against the gentle snowflakes that floated down to Earth softly, and there was a distinct smell in the air that only came around Christmas time.

Tina almost stumbled as she stepped carefully over the rocks that covered the playground below the large play-set; she’d almost forgotten that Christmas was only a little less than a week away. That put an excited skip in her step as she pushed past the tire swing. The darkened outline of those rusted swings were so close, she could almost make them out within the shade of nightfall and gathering snow. Tina couldn’t put a finger on why, exactly, she had such an urge to just sit and swing gently, pumping her legs ever so slightly and allowing the billowing wind to nip at her exposed nose and cheeks, but something about it just seemed to peaceful and oddly comforting. It was something she would occasionally do with her siblings when things become too hectic at school, or with life in general. They understood that sometimes she just wanted to get away- sometimes to talk, other times just to enjoy the silence and the feeling of flying.

At least, for a little while.

When the teen thought about it, she really did think she had the greatest family that anyone could ask for. Sure, they didn’t have much money or a huge house, and she had to work almost every day after school, but what they did have was special. It was a home filled with love and acceptance, even when they got mad at one another, everyone knew that by the end of the day it would be alright. She silently reminded herself not to take that for granted, and she found herself smiling.

She got closer to the swings and was about to start running at them, the excitement helping move her legs faster and faster, but a voice coming from the darkness stopped her cold and dead in her tracks.

“Oh- hey, T! Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Tina screamed upon hearing the disembodied voice, quickly taking a step back. Crap, why didn’t she bring anything that she could use to defend herself with? A pocket knife, a lighter- anything? The only thing she could do in her moment of terror was to continue screaming, eventually putting up her hands to cover her face in an attempt to block whatever the possible assailant might do to her. After a few seconds of nothing happening, she heard them speak once more.

“Woah, woah, woah! T-Bird, it’s just me! Zeke! Slow your roll, girl. It’s all good! I ain’t no killer or nothin’, chill out!”

Tina dropped her hands in an instant, face contorting into a look of absolute rage.

“Zeke! What the hell? What are you _doing_ here?” She placed a hand over her rapidly beating heart, willing it to slow beneath her coat. On the bright side, at least the adrenaline that was still managing to pump through her veins had helped warm her up, if only for a moment’s time. Still, this was not the way she expected to fight the cold. Zeke stood up from one of the swings she was about to run to just a minute ago and held up his hands in mock surrender. He was in thick but ratty looking jeans, tennis shoes and a red jacket with the hood pulled up.

“What am _I_ doin’ here? What are you doin’ here, T? Don’t you know what time it is?”

Tina opened her mouth to retort, but closed it after a thought passed through her subconscious; was he really going to interrogate her? This was her special place! He didn’t belong here!

“Uhhh… of course I know what time it is. But I’m, err, testing you.” Tina’s strong facade started crumbling pretty obliviously, so she toyed with her yellow beret awkwardly. She hoped that maybe Zeke might drop it, that he’d take that for a fair answer and just leave; but the Southern boy seemed persistent, crossing his arms over his thick chest and continuing.

“Yeah, I bet. Seriously, girl; it’s two in the dang mornin’. You shouldn’t be out here all by yourself. What would your mamma or daddy say if they went to check on ya’ and you weren’t there, huh?”

That gave the girl pause. In all honesty, she hadn’t thought about that. Normally her mother would take a quick peek into each of her children’s bedrooms, but she would have done so already. Everyone was already in bed when she had left. Still, that didn’t mean that Linda wouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night and crack open her door. She hadn’t thought to stuff pillows on top of her bed and cover it with a blanket to make it look like her sleeping form. She didn’t really expect to be out this long. A sinking feeling of guilt hit her stomach like a truck plowing into her, and she physically covered her abdomen with her arms, trying not to outwardly grimace.

Zeke must have noticed, because the next thing he said was, “Uh huh, that’s what I thought. C’mon, I’ll walk ya home-”

He reached for her arm but Tina staggered backwards, arms hanging by her sides tensely.

“Well, what about _your_ parents? You shouldn’t be out here, either.” _Yeah, that sounded good_. Tina tried quirking a single brow, but ended up raising them both and just kind of appearing like a surprised deer. If Zeke noticed, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned around and went back to sit on the swing. Tina stood, arms crossed, but it was evident that he didn’t feel like talking. She lowered her shoulders and decided to still do what it was she came to do; swing. Tina took the one next to him after dusting off the residual snow. A shiver came over her when she first sat, but it passed rather quickly.

None of them spoke up as Tina kicked lazily into the air, picking up a bit of speed but barely swinging up past the boy beside her. It wasn’t as relaxing as she thought it would be. Maybe it was the tension between the two teenagers. Luckily enough, Zeke ended up breaking the thick silence between them. For once, Tina was relieved.

“You kiddin’? For one, T, they’re divorced. I was stayin’ with my dad and his girlfriend when Mom barged in, probably drunk as hell, just to yell at him. And me, but I got outta there. Once I heard something bein’ smashed on the ground, I wrote ‘em a little note and climbed out my window. Screw that noise, ya know? Screw it all.”

Tina’s jaw worked, mouth hanging open in a silent answer. She hadn’t thought of why Zeke would really be all by himself so late. Honestly, she hadn’t thought much about him at all, except that he was always getting in the way of her and Jimmy Jr having any real alone time. And she might have considered him obnoxious once or twice. Now, seeing this side of him- the side that would talk to Tina with this type of vulnerable honesty as if they’d been the best of friends for years- she realized (embarrassingly late) that he wasn’t just a barrier between her and the boy she was crushing on. He was a person with his own unique difficulties behind the scenes that she had no idea about.

An overwhelming feeling of remorse and, once again, guilt, rose up into her mouth, leaving a nasty taste across her tongue. She fixed her gaze down and studied the fraying laces of her black sneakers.

“Zeke… I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Well, I did know, about your parents being split up, but I didn’t… if I had, I wouldn’t have… I’m just sorry-”

He cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand. Tina slowed down, hands gripping the chains of her swing so tightly that the rust began to dig into her palms. “Ain’t no reason for you to apologize. You didn’t come outta nowhere after drivin’ drunk and start yelling about all kinds of nonsense. Besides, you had every right to be scared comin’ here and seein’ me. You’re all by yourself in the dark and then- BOO. You see some guy? Hell, I probably would’a wet my pants if I were you, girl.”

Tina couldn’t tell if he was being serious or if that was his weak attempt at a joke- she was terrible with reading those sorts of cues- but the corners of her mouth twitched upward in a small smile regardless. She kicked at the ground beneath her to gain more traction, starting to lift up into the air once more. Zeke seemed to follow the movements, slowly beginning to swing himself. That made Tina’s smile stretch up a bit more, and she couldn’t place her finger on the reason why.

“Well, you heard my sob story. Now it’s only fair that you tell me why you’re out here so dang late when it’s freezin’ cold.”

The two swung side by side, though they weren’t completely in sync with one another. Zeke was a little behind Tina, whenever she would begin her descent backwards, he would be reaching the top of his ascent.

What was Tina really even supposed to say? After hearing Zeke’s reasoning for wanting to get out of the house, she felt kind of stupid- and selfish to boot. What even was her motivation for sneaking out of the house so late? She needed to clear her head? Get some “peace and quiet”? Those were so insignificant compared to what Zeke was going through. A warmth spread into the girls face, and even if it helped fight off some of the cold, it was extremely unwelcome.

She puffed out her cheeks like a squirrel with a mouth full of nuts. The silence had stretched on for too long now, and if she didn’t say anything soon, the awkwardness would become thick and malleable. After swallowing a lump in her throat, she replied quietly. Uneasily.

“I… don’t know. I guess I was just thinking-”

“That’s dangerous!” Zeke cut in, trying to lighten the mood, at least a little. Instead of making their situation less uncomfortable, it only made Tina sputter from being interrupted.

Unsure of how to answer the boy’s interjection, she simply continued; “it can be, sometimes. And I just wanted to… get out. Does that make sense? No, it doesn’t make sense. I’m sorry. I’ll be quiet now. Actually, you’re right, I should go home. My parents are probably worried, or-”

“T, you’re doin’ that nervous rambling thing again.”

She didn’t realize she had stopped swinging until Zeke slowed to a stop beside her. He reached an arm out, like maybe he was going to place a hand on her shoulder, but the distance was a bit too far to do so comfortably, so he recoiled and tried to play the action off by rubbing the back of his neck.

“Just thinking is as good a reason as any to get out. Sometimes you just gotta get away from everybody and everything. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with wanting to hide, s’long as you know when it’s time to come back out again.” This time he didn’t care that the space between them was longer than his general wingspan; he reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze that he hoped she could feel through her coat. Something burned slightly behind her eyes but she blinked before any moisture could collect in the corners.

“I don’t really know what to say, Zeke. Except… thanks. That, uhh, means a lot.” His face broke out in a huge grin and he gave her shoulder one more affirmative pat before taking his hand away.

“Anytime, girl. You know I got your back.”

Truth be told, she didn’t know that. It was strange, having Zeke (one of the only boys she didn’t insanely fawn over) act so genuinely sweet to her. The thought flitted across her mind that Jimmy Jr would never say something that kind and heartfelt. But that might not be true. They were off and on again, right? And maybe during one of their more “on” times, he might utter something just as romantic. Again, Tina had let the silence between them stretch on. She met Zeke’s expectant gaze, brown eyes shimmering, and smiled a pleasant grin for the first time that night.

“I’ve got your back too, Zeke. Not literally, because you kind of need that. But I just mean- if you ever need to talk, I know you have Jimmy Jr, but you can talk to me. If you want. You don’t have to, though.” She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything else that might embarrass her or annoy Zeke, but unlike the usual reaction she would receive of an eye roll and a strained, “ _uhm, okaaay_ ,” the southern boy’s face just continued to light up. For a moment, Tina thought that it could outshine the moon.

“Listen, T-Bird. It’s way beyond late, and it’s cold, and when it’s time for you to wake up early and get to work, you're gonna be dead tired. Let’s get you home.”

“My parents don’t make me wake up early on holidays or weekends. But… you’re right. Let’s go home. Both of us.” In the heat of the moment, she grabbed onto Zeke’s sleeve and yanked him from his swing as he made a grunt sound of surprise.

“Alright, girl. Just don’t damage the merchandise!”

* * *

After some mild protesting, Tina let Zeke walk her home. He didn’t live too terribly far away, and if she was being honest, walking alone in the dark this late at night gave her some intense anxiety. When she had asked if Zeke was sure he was going to be alright walking back by himself, he pulled out a pocket knife and replied, “Don’t worry about me, T.”

So she didn’t.

He was nice enough to even take her to the door, despite the fact that she said walking her to her street was more than enough. “If my grannie knew I didn’t walk a lady to her own front door, she’d beat my ass.” That made Tina laugh, and she hoped it was appropriate. By Zeke’s smile, it seemed to be the right thing to do.

“Thank you. I mean it.” They faced one another, standing and shifting their weight in front of the entrance to Tina’s small but sweet apartment. She felt like she should say something else- and Zeke hadn’t left or said goodbye yet- but her mind drew a complete blank. Unsure of how to proceed she started to groan in social discomfort. Luckily enough, Zeke simply laughed, but not unkindly.

“I’ll see ya later, T. Have a good winter break.” He turned to leave, but it didn’t feel right. This moment was off to Tina. Anticlimactic. She wasn’t doing something right, and if she didn’t act quickly then it would all be ruined. Letting her body work faster than her mind, she grabbed Zeke’s hand and pulled him back, close enough to press her lips against his cold cheek for a few solid seconds. When she drew away from him there was a flushed tone beneath his face, stretching all the way down his thick neck.

“Happy holidays, Zeke.” With that sentiment tossed over her shoulder, she unlocked her door, raced up the stairs two at a time, and snuck back into her room, all without taking a breath. Once in the safety of her own bedroom she breathed again and fell onto the mattress, still in her winter clothes.

_Ain’t nothin’ wrong with wanting to hide, s’long as you know when it’s time to come back out again._

Tina was tired of hiding. Finally, she felt that she was ready to come back out, once and for all. She stripped down to a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and climbed into bed properly, falling asleep practically as soon as she nestled herself beneath the covers. She didn’t hear her mother come in half an hour later to check up on her and remark on what a cute smile her baby girl was making in her sleep.

She dreamt of snowfall, of a chilling winter night, and of a handsome young hero who happened to have the most endearing southern drawl. It was the best Tina had slept in a very long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Yooooo not gonna lie I started this story a loong time ago and recently got back into Bob's Burgers because it's just a show that's always helped with my anxiety, so I picked up this gem and continued it so it could stop collecting dust. It was fun to finish! And it helped my confidence to actually publish something here again, even if the fandom isn't necessarily all that large. Anyway, if you like Zina as a couple, hope you enjoyed and pictured them getting together in sometime in the future! If not, that's completely okay, and you can take it as one of Tina's fleeting crushes. Thanks again, and please feel free to leave a comment or two!


End file.
